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Gardner-Udall matchup part of national GOP strategy

By Kurtis Lee and Lynn BartelsThe Denver Post

Posted:
02/27/2014 07:33:44 PM MST

Updated:
02/28/2014 01:09:10 PM MST

For months, insiders in both parties pegged Colorado's status in the Senate midterm elections as a flyover state with incumbent Democratic U.S. Sen. Mark Udall expected to best the winner of the crowded GOP primary.

That's all changed.

Congressman Cory Gardner's decision to run for the Senate against Udall has once again thrust Colorado into the national political spotlight as a critical centrist state where millions of dollars will be spent to pursue victory in November.

At stake: control of the U.S. Senate and the outcome of races in Colorado, where Republicans hope to benefit from having a strong candidate at the top of the ticket.

A Gardner-Udall matchup would pit a rising star in the national Republican Party with a member of one of the West's most respected political families.

Sen. Mark Udall, D-Colo. (AP file photo)

"It's now a race to watch," said Nathan Gonzales, deputy editor of the nonpartisan Rothenberg Political Report, which ranks House, Senate and gubernatorial races. "It's a state Democrats will need to spend money to defend, and it gives Republicans a little more breathing room because nationally they now don't have to win every competitive race."

Republicans must pick up six seats to take control of the upper chamber of Congress. In addition to Colorado, Republicans — backed by a deluge of outside money — will target key Senate seats in Alaska, Arkansas, Louisiana, Montana, New Hampshire, North Carolina and Virginia.

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Americans for Prosperity, a conservative group bankrolled by the billionaire Koch brothers, has already hammered incumbent Democrats in some of those states. The group is expected to unveil ads in the coming months against Udall for his support of the Affordable Care Act — the federal health care law that's polling at about 60 percent disapproval in the state.

Democratic Congresswoman Diana DeGette of Denver, the dean of the Colorado delegation, on Thursday sent a fundraising appeal.

"Yesterday the ground shook for Colorado Democrats," she said. "This is a must-win race for Democrats, and Gardner jumping in means two things: 1, We can't take any seat for granted. 2, We can't wait to mobilize."

But before Republicans and Gardner focus on November, the congressman must get through the GOP primary on June 24.

He's already cleared the deck of two front-runners in the race. State Rep. Amy Stephens of Monument and Weld County District Attorney Ken Buck have dropped out and thrown their support to Gardner. Buck is now running for Gardner's seat in the 4th District.

Gardner is a fifth-generation Coloradan who during his five years in the legislature was known for his quick wit and ability to get along with others. Asked the farthest he had ever been from Colorado, he quipped, "Boulder."

Udall's late father, Democrat Morris Udall, was a former congressman from Arizona who was close with Republican Sens. Barry Goldwater and John McCain.

From his elders, Udall said, he learned the importance of working across the aisle.

Udall ran in 2008 for an open Senate seat, easily defeating former Congressman Bob Schaffer of Fort Collins.

Into the fall he had a clear advantage as the incumbent, but then his support of Obamacare become an amplified issue when the troubled rollout made national news. Udall's polling then took a hit.

The night before, Gardner texted Stephens to ask if they could talk. She said she was in the middle of a fundraiser that was so successful at least five women volunteered to host an event for her.

Gardner wanted to talk about the Senate race. It was the first Stephens knew he was thinking of getting in.

She said Gardner, a good friend from their days together in the House, told her if she stayed in, he would stay out. She said she didn't make up her mind until Wednesday morning.

"I told Cory 'I think you're the great uniter. I think you come to the table with resources quadruple of Ken and me and everyone else.' I said 'I do not want to divide this party,' " she said.

But the other top-tier candidate in the race, state Sen. Owen Hill of Colorado Springs, was livid and accused the "party establishment" of bypassing voters trying to pick the GOP nominee.

Hill accused Gardner and Buck of engineering a "backroom deal" and a "boondoggle" that Colorado voters cannot trust.

Udall's campaign echoed the sentiment.

"It's no surprise that a Washington ideologue like Congressman Cory Gardner worked with party bosses to cook up the 'Centennial State Swap,' the shady scheme hatched behind closed doors that enabled him to swoop into the Senate race," Udall campaign spokesman Chris Harris said in news release.

Buck said there was no deal.

"I stepped out of the race because I thought Cory represents the best opportunity to beat Mark Udall," Buck said. "I told him I would support him because it is so important that we beat Mark Udall and move this country in a different direction."

Deal or no deal, Gardner's surprise decision continues to reverberate nationally and in Colorado, a state that for the past three election cycles has been at the eye of a political storm.

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